Coffee in East Austin

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AFBA, atxbesteats, Austin, Austin Food Blogger Alliance, cafe, coffee, East Austin, espresso, Texas

This post is part of the 2015 City Guide by the Austin Food Blogger Alliance.

A rainy day inside Cenoté.

The coffee scene in Austin has expanded pretty rapidly over the past couple years, particularly on the south and east sides. Living in East Austin, I’m most familiar with the coffee shops over here, and since this is a guide and not a review post, I’ve listed all of them. That said, I have had good coffee at each of these, aside from the two trailers I have yet to visit!

The area covered here is located between I-35, Airport, and East Cesar Chavez. (Coincidentally, there isn’t a single Starbucks within this triangle.) Everything is listed alphabetically within three categories: Mainly Beverages, With Full Kitchens, and Small / Mobile.

Kin & Comfort

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Austin, comfort food, Kin & Comfort, NaBloPoMo, southern, Thai

A few months ago, I really wanted to get some fried chicken at this newish Thai/southern food fusion place called Kin & Comfort. Long story short, I found out that they only accepted cash, and by the time I came back from an ATM, it was ten minutes before closing and they were too backed up to take my order. Sad times. (Now you can pay with a card inside the market for a $.25 fee.)

Julie texted me yesterday to let me know that Asian Supper Club (an informal group of blogging friends) was meeting there tonight for dinner, so that was exciting. There were seven of us and we covered a pretty good portion of the menu, though I just got photos of what Julie and I ordered.

Son-in-law deviled eggs

EAST Moments

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Austin, EAST, East Austin Studio Tour, NaBloPoMo

Despite not getting to see as much art as I would have liked this year at the East Austin Studio Tour, some is better than none, right? It rained three out the four days, but the last day was perfect.

Since I seem to lack writing vibes tonight, here are some photos from the first and final days, or November 15 and 23.

Keep Ramen Weird

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Austin, Japanese, NaBloPoMo, noodles, ramen

Austin is home to a lot of people who like to nerd out about food, and one of the more recent obsessions has been ramen. There are three ramen-dedicated restaurants here, which seems like a lot for a city of this size in Texas. They all offer something slightly different, which I think helps keep each one busy. As of the other night, I have finally eaten at all three!

Veggie at Michi: scallions, sprouts, cabbage, wood ear mushrooms in shoyu shiitake broth with ajitama egg added. (I was vegetarian at the time)

South Austin Social

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afbahh, Austin, Austin Food Blogger Alliance, food trucks, NaBloPoMo, South Austin Social

Of course one of the best things about being a member of the Austin Food Blogger Alliance is getting to hang out and eat food with fellow, local bloggers. Thankfully this happens monthly with the fantastic happy hours that Bo puts together.

Last night, we met up at South Austin Social, a new food truck park tucked away off of Barton Springs near South Lamar. Currently Beirut, Boca, Brunch Haus, Uncle Louie G’s, and Unity Vegan Kitchen are all situated there and treated us to a feast.

Here are some of the things I ate in the order that I tried them:

Falafel from Beirut, a Lebanese food truck.

Mueller Farmers’ Market

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Austin, farmers market, Mueller, NaBloPoMo

Hard to tell where the hangar ends and the dreariness begins.

It’s probably not a bad idea to check the weather before deciding to post about a farmers’ market. Aside from the hellish summers, the weather in Austin is pretty pleasant year-round. Well, today was a terrible day to go shopping for produce outdoors, but I went anyway.

The Mueller Farmers’ Market is in east Austin at the Browning Hangar. The booths used to be set up under the hangar, which would have been helpful against today’s chilly wind and drizzle, but alas. I like to walk around once to see what’s available, then go back around for purchases.

Fall fruit from Engel Farms.

Do EAST

Tags

art, Austin, East Austin Studio Tour, NaBloPoMo

It’s that time of year again! If you’re in Austin, you should check out the East Austin Studio Tour because it’s awesome. Hundreds of artists open their studios to the public as a way to showcase their artwork both this weekend and next weekend. Most artists are there in their studios which allows you to ask them questions and purchase anything that might be for sale. Some even work while this is going on, so you can see their process. There are also events and happenings.

Click for the large version, and see the catalog for descriptions.

Wordless Wednesday: Best Sunset

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Austin, clouds, NaBloPoMo, sunset, Texas, Wordless Wednesday

Taken on September 2, 2014, but still my favorite.

Coffee Break

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Austin, coffee, espresso, NaBloPoMo, San Antonio

I meant to write something tonight but totally don’t regret going to see Interstellar instead.

So for the sake of NaBloPoMo, here are some photos of coffee recently enjoyed.

Cortado, Local Coffee.

Will Work for Veggies

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Austin, farm, fruit, JBG Organic, Johnson's Backyard Garden, NaBloPoMo, organic, produce, Texas, vegetables, volunteering

A little over six months ago, I began volunteering at Johnson’s Backyard Garden, an organic CSA-based farm in Austin. I found out about this opportunity shortly after moving here three years ago. If you know me, I don’t really seem like a farm-y person, which is partly why it took me so long to try it out. But you know what? I keep going back because it’s kind of addictive.

Why? Because being outside, working with veggies, and maybe getting a little dirty is fun. Really! And it also might have something to do with the bounty of beautiful vegetables that you receive at the end.

I think my biggest concern about doing this was wondering what the heck I would do with all of that produce. This is also what kept me from joining a CSA because I only cook for myself. You quickly learn to use up the things that go bad first, and if you have a fear of pickling like I did, well, you get over it. (Pickled peppers are the BEST.)

Gloves because okra is prickly.